Heather, sounds like you are Top Dog in your house. The older will always be the dominant. Very rarely does that position change. The younger one will continue to test the older, but even that gets "old" after a while and will quit doing that.

Hugs!
RK

Meta-My husband loves to tell me that Edmonton is the farthest north major city (over 1,000,000) in North America. We are enjoying a nice fall this year. No snow, lots of sun, and reasonable temps. Today though, it was WINDY. Gusts to 60, and walking downtown just funneled it right at me. Now if the wind is coming close to knocking me over, something is seriously wrong. We are expecting snow on Sunday morning.

Annie-My dog had matching baseball hats for every team my boys played for, plus boy scout hat, and he had a tux, and a Christmas reindeer suit. He took all his wardrobe with him when he went to his new family. I sure miss him, but he is getting to go to his favorite baseball field to watch his new master play little league. I knew when I heard he was getting to sleep in his bed, that he would be fine and happy, even if it made me sad. I just couldn’t bring him this north. He was used to Florida. They are great dogs, if a bit hard to train, and those ears are precious until you see a pair of those sticky mouse traps stuck to them.

I’m too tired tonight to write anymore. I’ll catch up later with everyone.

I hadn't heard that. Gives me some comfort... though I am wondering how long it will go on. The "puppy" is 2 1/2!!!!

Thanks!

Hi, HeatherI know it's upsetting but your dogs are unlikely to hurt each other very much, all that snarling, growling & scuffling sounds so much worse than it is. I had two dogs as a girl & they fought off & on til one died (of old age) it was just like an old married couple's bickering.xxxxxx
Ammi sent me a text SHE FITTED ON ALL THE RIDES!!!! So pleased for her, the weather has been very good too, cold but sunny. Alton towers is a few miles away from us but as the boys are at school we couldn't go over & meet her, which was a shame.
Catherine hope you head is ok now, how do you manage to bash it without noticing?xxxxxx
Azcyn, forgot to say how good your new hairstyle is!xxxxx
Valerie, are you ok? Hope all is going well with Gabe at the trainer's.xxxxxxx
Anyone heard from Lilion or Jillybean?
Wel nothing to add here, feel a bit sicky, was off-plan for two days, no idea why! Ok all day til 9pm-ish then made myself some sandwiches! Steve's on nights so I blame TOM & being lonely, lol. No more though, I really WANT to be 20 or more pounds down before Christmas.
xxxxxxsharon
ps Any tips on my tummy, it's so 'hang-y' my jeans are looking so weird with this 'thing' hanging down around my thighs? Tried hold 'em in pants(undies) just hope as the fat goes the flap will 'thin down' it wasn't so bad when I was bigger coz the fat held it up & out.

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this group just wanted to Introduce myself... i'm Lil, and am working very hard at getting my weight issues under control, I'm still figuring out diet and what I'm going to do, I'm leaning towards medifast but am currently following SB... anyways I just wanted to say hi.

Debbie: The deer that my DH shot was 80 lbs of meat. Right now my Dad's deer is in the freezer too and that is 74 lbs. Luckily we have 2 freezers and they are both pretty large. In what we call the "meat" freezer we have 1/3 of a beef too from June when we helped my parents cut up their meat. Now, I need to go get some chicken, fish etc. lol Then we'll be all set.

Sandy: Sorry things are hectic at work. I hope it gets better soon. Congrats on loosing 8 of the 12 you gained. You are doing great and are off to a good restart.

Rat: Sorry about the hives. Your furbabies sound so darling. I love goldens. Both of mine are 1/2 golden and 1 of them looks a lot golden.

Carol: Wohoo on your -8 pounds! Great job. Our cruise is NEXT December. Noth in 2007. We are going in 2008. It will be all of my 3 sisters plus thier grown children if they want to come and their families plus my hubby and myself and my favorite Aunt who is forever young. I have never been before. Actually I have never been on a real vacation before that isn't going to visit family so I am beyond thrilled. I think it is about time after 22 years of marriage for us to go on one. I don't know what cruise lines it is. My Sister Patty and her hubby Ken are vetran cruisers and are setting up the whole thing. The job search is going slowwwwww. I have another interview tomorrow, Saturday at Noon with a company that is hiring 2 office managers. I did write them a letter telling them, although I have never had the title, "office manager", I certainly have done the job of office manager. It got me an interview at least. My final application at the County also got me a job interview with the District Court next Thursday morning. I am not very hopeful honestly because of all the times they have turned me down. I heard from someone that they are very interested in giving "Native Idahoans" the jobs first. I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse. lol. I do know that coming from California living up here is not looked on as a good thing. People are not fans of California converts here because lots of them come and try to change the way things are ran here. I think change makes some of them very fearful. Some of the changes that people are wanting to make are just silly and I can see why they get irritated at us. lol. I do love Northern Idaho and I'm sure the more Californians that move up here the more that fear will diminish.

Heather: I hope your dogs are more like the other ladie's dogs than mine. My dogs did fight for the lead role a couple of times. Nothing serious. It just sounds horrid. My younger one did become the leader and I was sad too. Pepper is my baby. lol. She is content now though. The same thing happened when Pepper was growing up and we had another older dog. It really isn't that bad. Hugs.

Catherine: I was really laughing at the image of your pup with mouse traps on his ears. lol. Too cute. I'm sorry you had to make a choice to give him to a new family but I'm sure it was the right choice. I lucked out when we moved our dogs from CA to Idaho. It doesn't snow nearly as much as it does where you live and my dogs are not short so they hop over the snow. They also really love it too. They kind of go crazy when it snows running around in it and taking what looks like purposeful tumbles in it. So, snow turned out to be okay for them.

Sharon: I hope you feel much better really soon. Thank you for sharing that Ammi was having fun and able to fit on all the rides. It was a shame that you couldn't make it to see her.

Lil: Welcome. Everyone here is super. Don't feel overwhelmed to reply to everyone. Just reply as you feel like it. No pressure. I do want to invite you to the exercise thread. There is also no pressure there but we are trying to reach 200,000 minutes of exercise this year and every single minute we get added to that helps. All you have to do is go there once a week, daily, biweekly, really it is up to you and post how many minutes you exercise and add it to the group total. Some of us on there make a goal for ourselves for the month. Some of us don't. Anyway, Welcome and I'm glad you are here.

Blessings all,
Annie

Since I have been posting in all the other threads I thought I should at least pop into the main and say hi. I did really poorly on Halloween. I meant to buy one type of candy that I don't like and accidently got one that I do and ate way too much of it. The scale is way up at the moment and I feel like I keep sabotaging myself. It feels like I am running up an escalator the wrong way and if I stop for a moment I lose so much ground. Oh well. I am really hoping this dance class I am taking tomorrow (Nia) will help to re-inspire me.

Nancy -- Start again NOW! If you haven't yet, throw away the candy! It's all maggoty anyway!

Lil -- WELCOME!

Sharon -- Thanks for the update about Ammi! So glad she fit in the rides!

Annie -- Thanks for the doggie info!

Hello my peeps!

Sharon, thanks for the update on Ammi!! I know she was thrilled when she could do all the rides.. I bet she was one happy camper!!! Yay! Sorry, but I don't have any tips on the hangy tummy. I have it too. I'm also hoping it'll thin down some more in the next 30+ lbs. That'll be when I go for a tummy tuck.. yay!

Welcome Lil!! Just hop right in, these people are fabulous. I'm not sure if I'd still be losing after all this time without them.

Annie, you'll love the cruise! I did one in 1990 with the family and had a blast. My fingers are crossed for you to find the right job.

Catherine, I was laughing at the visual of the poor hound with sticky mousie traps on his ears. omgosh! I'm glad he has a new little master he can snuggle with.. those outfits sound fabulous! Of course, as a sewer, I should have known he'd have the best of the best. hehe. My dogs LOVE the snow. Buffy will jump up and grab limbs hanging down with snow to dump it on her brother on purpose. I watched her do it to him.. hehe. It was funny to watch.

Nancy, that maggoty candy is nasty!! I understand about feeling like so much work has gone into the journey to feel like one slip makes you lose so much ground. In reality, you haven't lost a lot of ground. Not in one day. Let that day go into weeks (or months like I did) and then it DOES make a big difference.

Heather, hrm.. when will your pup stop? Well, when he grows up hehe. I have goldens and they grow up at the age of 10 or 11! Silly puppies. It's just posturing. I love my goofy goldens as much as you love yours too. The two I have now don't posture at all. They play like littermates. This is the first time I've had two so close in age.

The hives are coming and going depending on how much time I spend outside in the wind. I have no idea what is doing this, but it's driving me nuts. Back to more antihistamine!

Hugs and Luv to all!
Ratkity

Happy Friday everyone

It's a gorgeous Friday here - the leaves are rustling, sun is high in the sky and made for a perfect morning with the pups at the park. Hubby went with us and we all enjoyed the morning - as well as the exercise.

Nancy - YUCK maggots - nice to see you.

RK - you scare me when you say they grow up at 10 or 11 - I was looking forward to this spring when they will be 2. They must touch each other - never to slow down until kennel time. I've never had hives but they sound absolutely horrendous - do they itch also - or just swell? Do the antihistamines give you enough relief?

Lil - welcome - I can only echo what the others have already said. I've only been here about a month and the support is unwavering. WELCOME

Catherine - how hard that must have been to leave your dogbaby - but how happy you must be knowing he has a wonderful loving youngster to share his life with. Watch out for the wind - sounds like it could blow you over.

I'm thinking soup sounds good - does anyone have a favorite recipe?

Hugs,
Carol

Hi chickies,

Doing a drive-by to tell you that I just came back from a shopping trip. All my dress pants in size 26 are unwearable, falling down my hips and dragging on the ground. I have one pair in size 24 and nothing smaller. I cannot believe size 24 is a little loose on me. I"m blowing right through this size and yet I spent years in it before. Go figure! I'm not complaining.

I came home with 2 pairs of dress pants in size 22 which are still a little too tight for wearing to work but I didn't see the point of buying 24s when they are already fitting a little loosely. I'll soldier through until the next size fits. I also bought 2 sweaters in size 2x. It was great, it was like old times, going to Marshalls and Ross and having a selection of clothes to choose from. The clothes I purchased are much higher quality than I have been wearing, as the higher quality clothes are now availble to me in Ross and Marshalls with careful digging through the racks....at bargain prices, cheaper than what I was paying with careful shopping at Avenue.

I'm pleased as punch.

Hi again all!

GGG, the hives are itchy and swell. Benedryl isn't strong enough at the recommended doses, so I take something called adarax. I get steriods too if the adarax isn't working right away. So far, I don't have to do any steriods. It's all very disconerting. The antihistamine knocks me out. I've slept most of the day. bleh.

My silly goldens are now as close as they can get to the gas fireplace. It has a glass cover on the fire, but I also have a very heavy screen in front of it so they don't fry their little golden tails.

Battle, you go girl!!! I love it that you are flying threw those sizes!!!

Luv,
Ratkitten

Hey, that is GREAT news about Ammi fitting on all the rides!! I'm so glad for her. Amusement park rides are one of my goals for next season as well, so I can really relate. Can't wait to hear from her about it all. Thanks for letting us know Sharon.

Nancy, doesn't it just completely blow when you have an eating indiscretion of several hundred calories that should add up to half a pound if anything, but your scale hits you soooo much harder than that. And it takes FOREVER to right. My little binge of nearly two weeks ago is STILL punishing me to some degree as I am still a pound and a half or so from my lowest low. I'm sorry you're feeling discouraged right now. I know hanging around here only helps, so I hope you're back lots and regularly.

Donna & Carol CONGRATS on your 8 pounds each! Donna WTG on tackling your gain with recommittment and results. Really proud of you.

Carol, you asked about the changes with regard to my eating. Thanks! It has definitely been an ongoing process that I am aware of as it happens. In fact, vigilant observation is part of the whole thing. I could yammer for quite a while, but the core of it is that 7 or so months ago I decided that I no longer wanted the willpower and self control over food that I chased for 30 years. I wanted something even better (to me) - an easy, natural, stressless relationship with food just like people who don't struggle with food and weight have without even thinking about it. To this end, I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it without judging my choices as good or bad, as long as I was physcially hungry. In the beginning, I ate (not OVERate) a lot of chocolate, for example. By that I mean I ate a little bit of chocolate, often. A small amount everyday for dessert for example, sometimes for both lunch and dinner. For me, familiarity bred...indifference? When I know I can have chocolate any old time I want and enjoy it without guilt and without physical discomfort (because I don't overeat it) there is so paricular siren song coming out of the Halloween treats.

It remains an ongoing process. I figure I eat up to 200 calories or so a day of mostly useless calories. A chocolate square after lunch and a small dessert square after supper etc. etc. I'd like someday for those calories to be replaced most days by healthier things, but I am willing - insistent even - for this to evolve naturally. I've learned that I almost always CAN trust myself to make good food choices without one single external rule in place. I've learned that given all the choice in the world my body and mind will 'ask' for healthy things much more often than not. I ate at work tonight, and had a handful of dates after my pasta rather than the mini chocolate bar on my desk simply because that's what I wanted to do. Completely free to choose the chocolate (as I did at lunch), but didn't. No struggle whatsover, so feeling like I was being 'good', just following the lead of my body and mind and spirt. It's been very freeing, and wonderful to surrender the reins in an area where I had previously been so out of control and so tormented.

Everybody have a wonderful Friday!

Battle, WTG on the clothes victories! I'm so glad you enjoyed your shopping. I love having sizes in my closet that are ever so close to keep me moving ahead.

Battle - WTG with the shopping - I wish we had Ross here although I must admit I love TJ Maxx and did some browsing a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised by the selection and quality when I need some new things. It was actually hard for me not to purchase because it is so rare to find decent things in my size.

Meta - thank you for the info - I think the road I am defining for myself right now is very similar although I could not have been so eloquent with it. I will read and re-read your post often.

RK - take care of yourself - I bet your pups realize something is amiss with mom don't they?

Enjoy the evening all,
Carol